Alviro Petersen, a right-hand opening batsman who forged a path to Test cricket in 2010 - nine year after his professional debut. It seemed as if he had turned his back on his country in 2011 after signing a county contract with Glamorgan but was picked again at the start of 2012 and has now cemented his place at the top order in international cricket.

With a cool head and a stoic, self-contained batting style, Petersen is primarily a leg-side player although he can bring out the perfect cover drive at will. On the fringes of the national side throughout 2009, an injury to Mark Boucher presented him with a Test debut against India in Calcutta. He made a century, only the third South African to do so, and didn't do too much wrong before he was dropped after the New Year's Test of 2011, also against India. He averaged 33.65 at the time and, although he had not lit up the world, he also hadn't darkened it but Jacques Rudolph's sheer weight of runs pushed Petersen out.

But Rudolph's return was unsuccessful and the selectors went back to Petersen, a century for South Africa A against Australia on a green pitch in Potchefstroom providing a compelling case.

On his comeback, in the New Year's Test against Sri Lanka, exactly a year after he was dropped, Petersen scored a century to show that he belonged. A milestone followed in each of the next two series he played, both times coming when questions arose about Petersen's presence in the starting XI. His 156 in Wellington against New Zealand came after two matches in which he made little impact while his 182 against England at Headingley turned around a tour that began with 42 runs in four innings, including a duck in the first Test at the Oval.

Petersen has since ticked over, with a century against New Zealand in Wellington his only stand out performance, though he remains a solid opener.
Firdose Moonda

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